The high expression (mRNA and protein) of IRAK1 as well as activated IRAK1 (T209) observed in myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukaemia [19, 20], melanoma [22] and HCC [8] showed the probable correlation between IRAK1 and its phosphorylated activation. The gene discussed is IRAK1; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.